Have we lost our money?

cynikev

We rented an AVIS vehicle through British Airways who provided us with a prepaid voucher.

When collecting the vehicle we presented the voucher and a credit card was required as a security deposit; no issues there.

After returning the vehicle AVIS charged the full amount of the rental to the credit card.

Due to their systems you cannot access the invoice for a number of days.

Once we had the invoice (early Oct 2022) I called customer service who said we were due a refund and it would be credited back.

A few weeks later (early Nov 2022) the credit was still outstanding so I called back and was told it was being processed.

Unfortunately around this time my father-in-law was hospitalised with dementia and subsequently passed away a few months later. During 2023 we also lost a first cousin, my mother-in-law's partner of 30+ years and another close friend so chasing the refund took a back seat.

We are finally on top of all the financial issues around losing a parent and the heartache of so many losses that I followed up with AVIS.

After requesting various paperwork, invoices receipts, vouchers and submitting them AVIS came back and said they can no longer process the refund and I should contact my bank.

I called the credit card company, but as I suspected, too much time has passed for them to do anything.

So basically AVIS took our money and I don't think there is anything we can do.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how or if we can get our money back?
Thank you for reading

heatherw_01

Sorry to hear about your father in law. 

If too much time has passed to claim via credit card, all you could do really is contact Avis again saying that the bank is unable to help to see if they can do something.

But sadly as so much time has now passed, it might be harder to get a refund.

Have you tried speaking to BA who you bought the car hire through? If you paid them initially, maybe they can refund the voucher seeing as you paid again.

Voyager2002

cynikev said:

We rented an AVIS vehicle through British Airways who provided us with a prepaid voucher.

When collecting the vehicle we presented the voucher and a credit card was required as a security deposit; no issues there.

After returning the vehicle AVIS charged the full amount of the rental to the credit card.

Due to their systems you cannot access the invoice for a number of days.

Once we had the invoice (early Oct 2022) I called customer service who said we were due a refund and it would be credited back.

A few weeks later (early Nov 2022) the credit was still outstanding so I called back and was told it was being processed.

Unfortunately around this time my father-in-law was hospitalised with dementia and subsequently passed away a few months later. During 2023 we also lost a first cousin, my mother-in-law's partner of 30+ years and another close friend so chasing the refund took a back seat.

We are finally on top of all the financial issues around losing a parent and the heartache of so many losses that I followed up with AVIS.

After requesting various paperwork, invoices receipts, vouchers and submitting them AVIS came back and said they can no longer process the refund and I should contact my bank.

I called the credit card company, but as I suspected, too much time has passed for them to do anything.

So basically AVIS took our money and I don't think there is anything we can do.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how or if we can get our money back?
Thank you for reading

Businesses are required to keep records for six years. During this period, you are free to pursue debts through the courts.

This is such a clear-cut case that I suggest you make a County Court claim against Avis: if you need to commence proceedings they would be ordered to pay your court fee.

martindow

Where was the car hired from?  If you do wish to make a claim, you need to check which legal jurisdiction the particular Avis branch comes under.  I imagine they could well have a complex company structure and a claim against an incorrect subsiduary would fail.

bagand96

Have you sought any assistance from BA at any point?  They sold you the car hire with Avis as their contractor, and if the car was booked with the flight then it would be a package meaning they are responsible for the performance of the package.

Again the timescales may cause complications here but may we worth a try.